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Canadian Wonderkids/Prospects


Dominic94

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8 hours ago, SpecialK said:

I truly believe most of our Euro-based players got cut not because they weren't good but because of political/lobbying from MLS  academies.  Most of our European bassed players play in  premiership academies ( that I can find). I'm sorry but come on, our players have to be good enough!

Most of our youth players aren't allowed to move to Europe until they turn 18. We had a few u17 players abroad, but it's not like there were a bunch of big players missing. There are two Canadian players that weren't with our u17s that would have been sure starters; Davies didn't have his clearance yet, and Akinola was playing for the US. 

6 hours ago, Ottawafan74 said:

 

I wouldn't say our pro academies are getting better. In fact I'd say the opposite. They aren't doing anywhere near the type of job needed to develop top talent. 

Our pro academies are definitely getting better. VWC and IMFC are on-par with mid-level MLS academies and TFC has a top 5 academy in MLS. The problem is that we only have three academies, not the quality of the ones we have. The US is just fine when teams like New England and Portland go 2 years without producing a MLS player, Dallas and LA probably produced 4 each in that time span. If 2 of the 3 Canadian have a couple down years it creates a crater in our youth player pool.

This last cycle is a great example, we couldn't get the best youth player at both TFC and VWC, while Montreal had a terrible u17 class. As a result our u17 team went to Panama without any special talent and got beat by a Cuban team whose MVP said he plays soccer to stay fit for baseball in the post-game interview. If you replace the bottom three players on that team with Akinola, Davies, and a fictional Montreal wonderkid, you have a top 4 u17 team in CONCACAF. With only three academies it's hard to get the talent to line up on a regular basis.

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4 hours ago, harrycoyster said:

Most of our youth players aren't allowed to move to Europe until they turn 18. We had a few u17 players abroad, but it's not like there were a bunch of big players missing. There are two Canadian players that weren't with our u17s that would have been sure starters; Davies didn't have his clearance yet, and Akinola was playing for the US. 

Our pro academies are definitely getting better. VWC and IMFC are on-par with mid-level MLS academies and TFC has a top 5 academy in MLS. The problem is that we only have three academies, not the quality of the ones we have. The US is just fine when teams like New England and Portland go 2 years without producing a MLS player, Dallas and LA probably produced 4 each in that time span. If 2 of the 3 Canadian have a couple down years it creates a crater in our youth player pool.

This last cycle is a great example, we couldn't get the best youth player at both TFC and VWC, while Montreal had a terrible u17 class. As a result our u17 team went to Panama without any special talent and got beat by a Cuban team whose MVP said he plays soccer to stay fit for baseball in the post-game interview. If you replace the bottom three players on that team with Akinola, Davies, and a fictional Montreal wonderkid, you have a top 4 u17 team in CONCACAF. With only three academies it's hard to get the talent to line up on a regular basis.

Vancouver has a split age group for the 00/01's. They have essentially given up on the group as there is no real talent amongst the group. They run a Mikey Mouse operation and have chased kids away. And the kids in their program view it not as a stepping stone to a pro career but a way to get a scholarship to the USA.

Montreal holds an open tryout where they charge $90 or $70 depending on age. Impact then evaluate 500 kids over a 3 day period. This a professional academy; what will you be able to determine about a 13 or 14 year olds potential over 3 days playing against a bunch of stiffs?  And why aren't you out identifying the talent you'd like to have in your program?

TFC have done the best job ( when they aren't pushing kids to the USA youth programs ) in terms of development but let's be honest. They have an incredibly large area to pull from. And now they they essentially just take kids from the provincial program they don't need tryouts or scouting. Heard they scraped their younger age teams and will go with U14 and older. Which means they aren't really that concerned with development. 

And if you need further proof, just look at where our youth programs are in relation to other national youth programs in CONCACAF. 

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The amount of academies doesn't determine what you can develop in your academy.  In fact with a less programs, they should be stronger.  They should be able to get every top kid in the country  into their program, with all the highest level coaching in Canada. 

My point is the academies we do have are regressing not moving forward. Fury got rid of their program. And Edmonton is just a feeder for VWC. 

They are figuring it out; they've figured out they don't run a good program. 

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3 hours ago, Ottawafan74 said:

The amount of academies doesn't determine what you can develop in your academy.  In fact with a less programs, they should be stronger.  They should be able to get every top kid in the country  into their program, with all the highest level coaching in Canada. 

Sure, less competition gives better results. Thats just bogus.

Ottawa dumped it academy, which is bad, but you can't blame FC Edmonton for Vancouver coming in and taking players from them. That's just the way it goes. 

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10 minutes ago, shamrock said:

Sure, less competition gives better results. Thats just bogus.

I think what he means is that with 3 academies each one should have a greater share of the top prospects as opposed to if there 50 fighting over the same player pool. Which at this point is correct. 

Now, if we had 50 teams competing with one another and they were identifying talent properly and coaching them up, the overall player pool would improve - which is what i believe you are saying?

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11 minutes ago, jpg75 said:

I think what he means is that with 3 academies each one should have a greater share of the top prospects as opposed to if there 50 fighting over the same player pool. Which at this point is correct. 

Now, if we had 50 teams competing with one another and they were identifying talent properly and coaching them up, the overall player pool would improve - which is what i believe you are saying?

Of course. 

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7 minutes ago, SpecialK said:

According to transfermarket his still there , but I did check stoke city's roster on their website he wasn't there ? So I don't know. But I know he'll sign somewhere he's pretty good. 

https://www.transfermarkt.com/stoke-city-u18/startseite/verein/14494

That roster is for next season, he'll be too old for the U18's. Also, i thought he was already playing on the U21 squad last season?

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On 2017-07-03 at 0:54 PM, jpg75 said:

I think what he means is that with 3 academies each one should have a greater share of the top prospects as opposed to if there 50 fighting over the same player pool. Which at this point is correct. 

Now, if we had 50 teams competing with one another and they were identifying talent properly and coaching them up, the overall player pool would improve - which is what i believe you are saying?

 

Yes. Meant we should be able to get all our top kids into MLS youth programs. In theory...

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On July 2, 2017 at 5:48 AM, SpecialK said:

Liam Millar - 17 , Striker Liverpool U18

https://www.transfermarkt.com/liam-millar/profil/spieler/487417

http://canadasoccer.com/index.php?t=profile&pid=6079

GP 17 - 5 goals 

had a hat trick in his  first game he played, against Blackburn U18

he played for U20 Canadian team this year.

 

Very interesting prospect! Will definitely be keeping up to date on his progress 

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8 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Safe to say to say that Cowlishaw, David and Dunn-Johnson are our best U-16/17 prospects ?

Was not totally familiar with a couple of these names. Seems Cowlishaw is a 2000 so not U16 anymore and same age as Davies but still looks promising. Found this article on him from 2014.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/Local+soccer+prodigy+kicking+around+Chelsea/9594011/story.html

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